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From the heart of Silicon Valley: I was walking in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto and passed the huge new Microsoft Store. It was big, bright and modern. It was also empty. About 8 customers wandered the broad aisles. I watched for about five minutes and saw the small crowd gather around the 3 D printer. They looked interested but the actual product was not for sale.

Continuing on just two storefronts, I came to a small Apple Store. At about a third the size of the Microsoft store, it was filled to overflowing by 43 customers and eleven staff geeks. In front, on the patio, was an instructional camp for kids. Over a dozen blue-shirted children were learning their Apple catechism. And, make no mistake about it, that is what is going on. Mac versus PC is a religious conflict, and they are both fighting not simply for sales but for souls.

I wouldn’t put this as good versus evil, because they are both industrial giants, mega-corporations whose job it is to extract our money in exchange for crucial technologies that we didn’t know we needed a generation ago. Mac is more nimble and able to put out beautiful products and more importantly to recall, repair and admit mistakes. They have had their flops. Remember the Cube? Microsoft offers less beautiful but more affordable products, however, they tend to stick with their turkeys longer. Vista, anyone?

Mac also creates a total environment with common interfacing platforms. Does this last sentence make it seem as if I actually understand this stuff? Well, I don’t. I do get that when you can make your desktop talk to your phone and automatically sync with your iPad, you have created a closed world where one would have to be virtually mad to have all of one’s various devices on different platforms. Genius. This is Mac’s version of Eden–a beautiful garden and you get to have the Apple. In fact, they insist.

Okay, clearly I follow the Mac faith, and it isn’t just the design or a “damn the expense” attitude. It’s also about customer service. From the support at the Genius Bar to AppleCare, I need all the support and coaching I can get. And they give it to me. Okay, sometimes they sell it to me, but I get fair value. One of my desktops broke (something about a mother board) and they fixed it. It broke again (would you believe a daughter board?). They replaced it not only with a new computer but with a huge upgrade. This is how you win converts.

So, I went into this little Apple Store with a brand new earbud that was missing the padded ear piece. I had treated it roughly and put it in my pocket with keys and change. Somewhere in the course of my morning, I’d lost it. I was greeted at the door (the staff gets to customers as if they were on commission) and I told DMAD (that’s his name! Go know) my sad story. He said they didn’t sell individual earbuds, but he’d look in the back for a spare. He returned a few minutes later with a box containing a new one. Conspiratorially, he whispered not to tell anyone because I couldn’t expect just to walk into any Apple Store in the land and assume this as a right.